As a school student:
Student History
MOPs-Primary School
Years Prep-7
From kindergarten, and to lower primary school I had no interest in reading. I would try to read and understand the words but my developmental level wasn’t at the same stage as others in my class. I found it hard to absorb any new information that was given to me. When I heard other students read or teachers read I could transport myself into a different world of imagination through literacy. I started getting extra help outside of school with tutoring and the first thing my tutor started making me do was read out loud to him. It was found that I would read words but not understand what I was saying or change the word to a different one with the same meaning. After 3 years of extra tutoring through primary school I became to understand reading as a tool to be able to read the world around me. Since I understand the concepts to read such as sounds, phonics etc. I began to read everything, posts, signs, newspapers and television. It started to make sense to me. My literacy history in reading has been hard but helped me to understand myself and make connections with the world.
Scotch College-High school
Years 10-12:
I attended Scotch College boarding school for my high school years. It was an international college with boarding students from all around the world. There was a range of internationally focussed areas in the curriculum, it gave me a sense of the world and prepared me for the world and giving me an experience with international cultures. As a boarding student it gave me a sense of family and community values, learning how to treat and understand others in a small environment.
The ICT resources available were very commonly referred to throughout my schooling assignments. Before attending Scotch College I gave from a low ICT resource that was only beginning to introduce ICT to the school when I finished. I feel very grateful to have experience both ICT resources and having a school bag filled with textbooks and a pencil case. The library resources were amazing; I had many different books to pick from. I was always the student at school that had to have a text with me, or reading something if I wasn’t studying already.
Charles Darwin-Post Schooling
Second Year Student
As a current Charles Darwin University student everything is online as an ICT resource or in some type of ICT form. Communicating with other students through the discussion board helps to understand assignments together and discuss different ideas.
To be a literate person, one must continue to learn and adapt to the changes in the world. Now with my past schooling experiences it has given me a set of literacy skills that help me to function in society during this time, since then I have learnt more and developed deeper understands on a literate person in todays world. My literacy abilities will never stop developing, as everyday is a different experience through studying, working with children and communication in society. My literacy abilities will keep growing and change according to the world around me.
Learning Literacy in my past schooling
When learning literacy at school I excelled more with mathematics, as it didn’t involve that much reading until later years. I found that during mathematics lessons I remember being given extra work at the back of the class to finish until it got to the stage of worded questions. Throughout school I had extra tutoring outside of school care to assist with reading and writing parts of school. I think that helped to improve my literacy but I wonder if I missed out during school hours the teaching side of literacy with other classmates. I now have a greater understanding of literacy and the Australian curriculum and how to teach literacy to our new generations.
Now through University I’m starting to understand the use of literacy in areas of work I didn’t understand before. I have started to relate my knowledge from being a governess for two years back to my learning, I have found that there are different methods when using literacy that I didn’t know about or how to use them before. Now after using my practice knowledge through placement and working with children it has become more meaningful in the way its used.
My literacy skills have grown rapidly and improved over the past 3 years. Each day my knowledge of literacy and the skills involved continue to grow.
Before starting university I would’ve have thought I could complete a semester, as I considered myself not very literate. I’m not a very strong speller and I have only know started to enjoy reading. Since I started this literacy assignment I have realised that literacy isn’t just about being good at reading or writing. I have found that I use literacy in everyday activities but in different ways. Now I would see myself as a literate person as I enjoy communicating with children and I communicate with others with work and university.
As my current job involved working with children under the age of 8 and working with the Early Learning Years Framework (ELYF) I know understand different ways that literacy can be communicated. I help children understand different ways to communicate through their younger years and help learn new things, which I found enjoyable.